


Cat Collector

by Aikatsu



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 00:31:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6543109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aikatsu/pseuds/Aikatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started off innocently enough for Farkle Minkus. Just an average day spent surfing the internet and the various social platforms he was a regular on. Nothing abnormal about that and nor was there anything abnormal about the links he clicked on. Except for one. The thumbnail on reddit showed a tiny pixelated cat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cat Collector

It started off innocently enough for Farkle Minkus. Just an average day spent surfing the internet and the various social platforms he was a regular on. Nothing abnormal about that and nor was there anything abnormal about the links he clicked on. Except for one. The thumbnail on reddit showed a tiny pixelated cat. He managed to pass the first one up, but then it came up again and again once more. There were many annoyed messages of how this one kept appearing and eating all the food while, for others, the trial was collecting various cats.

Mistakenly he decided to investigate further.

He quickly learned it was a mobile game aptly named Neko Atsume. Cat Collector. A game of collecting and playing with cats. Minutely, he had to wonder why they didn’t just get cats of their own. Was it really that entertaining to play with tiny digital cats? Why were people so obsessed with a game that was essentially an updated version of tamagotchi? Except, at least this time the cats didn’t need food or anything of the like.

It was innocently that he downloaded the game. Innocently still that he placed the first dish of food out for the cats. Still innocently that he clicked off the application and went back to his homework. By the time he finished an essay he returns to the game and clicks it open– He’s dismayed to find that no cats are there, but his food is gone. A quick investigation shows that he was visited by three cats during the time he was working.

Farkle feels momentarily frustrated at that. What was the point of playing a game if you didn’t get to see the cats? With that in mind he puts out more food and for good measure buys a couple more toys. Once more he returns to his homework except, in just a few minutes, he checks his phone again. A small grin spreads across his face as his efforts were rewarded. Pumpkin the cat had rewarded him a visit.

Thus begins a slow consuming obsession. Farkle doesn’t want to just see the cats for himself– He wants to catch them all. He’s not satisfied until he has a screenshot of every cat for his album. He should have known this would happen. Farkle’s too much of a completionist to stop a game once he’s picked it up, especially a collecting one. He should have known it was trouble, but somehow he can’t stop himself. He finds himself setting up specific times to wake up for when he thinks the cat that only comes out for snow will be out. He checks it in class– Gets caught once, immediately regrets the decision.

His friends seem to notice, but he waves them off. He’s not in trouble or anything and he can’t explain that he’s busy collecting cats. Maya would probably never let him live that down. But it’s a hellish whirlpool he never expected to find himself in. Stuck at the very end with only three cats left to capture. He decides then someone else needs to suffer with him.

Which is why his study date with Riley doesn’t start as innocently. They take up their places on either side of the counter in Topanga’s. Farkle fidgets with his pencil, answering Riley’s questions readily. Blue eyes darting between equations to the blackened screen of his phone. He should check on the cats– Maybe Billy the Cat showed up! His fingers move to his phone without thinking but are stopped by a hand coming down on top of his head. Baffled, Farkle turns his eyes eyes upwards to the furrowed ones of his friend.

“Farkle?” Riley asks uncertainty in her tone.

“Huh?” He responds quickly, jumping back in his seat, “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

“Are you okay? You’ve been staring at your phone a lot lately,” she says features pinching up some as if she’s trying to decide what’s going on in his head. Farkle rapidly shakes his own in return, trying to ward off his friend’s ill thoughts.

“I’m okay, really,” he responds in a quick chirp, “it’s just… you know… stuff. Not bad stuff, just stuff.” He adds the last part in wincing to himself because he can’t even believe his own words. He knows Riley doesn’t from the way her nose scrunches up. He tries to give her his most reassuring smile without feeling awkward about it– Maybe he should just tell her. Nah, that would ruin his plan.

“Anyway. Ionic compounds, yeah?”

Riley manages a small smile at that and nods before the two of them go back to their papers. They go back to their mostly peaceable silence easily enough. The only words past between them about their homework and the occasional joke. It seems he averted that crisis, now just to wait until he can put his plan into play.

He almost doesn’t think he’ll get to but an hour later Riley excuses herself to use the bathroom. He stiffens slightly, but quickly nods and goes back to his own papers. When his friend gets up his eyes dart from his papers to her and then back again. He doesn’t move until he believes her safely in the bathroom and then snatches up her phone she left unguarded. Deftly his fingers move to install the application to her phone. Farkle knows he has but a few moments and he counts down to himself as game installs. For a brief moment he thinks he’s going to be caught, Farkle can hear the bathroom door opening as the game pauses at 99%.

But gratefully it finishes and he exits out before dropping the phone like it was burning his skin. He tries to move back in his seat and look as casual as possible but isn’t able to manage it. Riley’s giving him that look again– And he tries to shrug it off. Says he was getting tired of just sitting there and had to move a bit. Riley questions why he jumped like he was frightened and he flounders a bit trying to think of an excuse and just slumps slightly in his chair.

She can’t help but laugh at him as he buries his face in his hands and mumbles.

He manages to use that distraction to his advantage and makes a funny face at her. Inevitably their work gets put to the side as they joke for the rest of the evening until Topanga’s closes. Katy ushers them out and Farkle walks his friend home. It’s a nice, quiet peaceable night in the end. He almost forgets that he had a villainous plan and had (not so perfectly) executed it…

…That is until halfway home his phone vibrates. Brow furrowing slightly he turns on the display to a new group chat.

Riley: Hey, guys? How do you get rid of a virus?  
Riley: I think I got one on my phone somehow.  
Riley: It’s got a big paw on it! Have you guys seen that?  
Riley: I’m gonna click it anything with a paw can’t be bad.

Farkle breathes out in confusion and debates answering it. He could be really terrible about this. Say something like SOS your whole phone is gonna blue screen in a minute or something. Before he can come up with the perfect words though there’s more messages:

Riley: 1asdsafksd  
Riley: OMG  
Riley: IT’S CATS  
Riley: SO MANY CATS???  
Riley: CATS  
Riley: I HOPE THERE’S A PURPLE ONE

He can’t help but laugh to the perplexity of passing New Yorkers. His phone keeps beeping with new messages from Riley screaming about cats and Lucas, Maya, and Zay a chorus of confusion and alarm. More than one of them tell her to try and calm down and explain. Only one person in the chat is oddly silent, himself.

After a moment he comes to a decision and toggles out of the group chat and moves to the last one he had with Riley. Then, very deliberately, he sends a single message to her:

Farkle: Good luck with Tubbs.

Satisfied with his deviousness, Farkle stuffs the phone back in his pocket and slips his hands into the pockets on his denim jacket. His phone continues blaring in his jeans pocket but he can’t bring himself to check it between his laughs. If he did perhaps he’d have seen the chorus of FARKLE from all of his friends and Maya answering with an “I’m going to kill him”.

After all, it was bad enough with Farkle playing it, but now they had Riley. And Riley? Riley would be twice and bad and probably wanting to adopt all the stray cats even more now… But maybe that was all a part of his plan, too.


End file.
